The Hunted
by IndelibleMark
Summary: Fear has created Creatures, beings who thrive on the darkness in everything, beings that took over our world, and the only ones able to kill them are people known as Symphonies. Which Brittany and her sisters must train to become as they encounter some of the strongest Creatures known to man..and some that have never been heard of before, all while facing their own inner demons.
1. Fateful Encounters

**Author's Note:**

Yup another story, I couldn't help it, this idea just seemed too good to pass up and I had to start it and see what everyone thinks.

So yeah, new story, enjoy 3

They were used to the darkness, it was in everything, hiding waiting to take control.

It feeds on the fear, thrives in emotion, and consumes all.

The darkness is a disease no one can escape.

It's been spreading like wildfire, and this is only the beginning.

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><p><strong>5 years before… <strong>

The wound was starting to act up again, the flesh around it itches while the deep scratches themselves burn with a pain that is hard to describe, but it hurts like hell.

"Hold still…Brittany stop squirming," Jeanette presses a firm paw to her wrist, holding her arm steady as their younger sister presses an alcohol pad to the wound, they all look like hell, and smell like it too.

Eleanor sniffs softly, unable to wipe the tears off her cheeks as she tries to slow the bleeding and stomp out infection, "T-They're gone…"

Jeanette's jaw clenches tightly, her purple irises glistening wetly in the dying light of their lantern.

The world has become cruel, it's been this way for nearly 300 hundred years now….humans were nearly wiped out by their own paranoia, their own fear, and selflessness, which gave birth to Creatures.

Beings born from the darkness dwelling within they thrived while men died, they feed off flesh and fear, tearing apart cities and slaughtering towns, they have taken over.

"Ellie…..we should've known this would've happened one day…..Dad was hurting for a long time…Mom knew he'd become one of them," Brittany reaches out with her free arm, wiping the flowing tears from her sister's cheeks as her throat tightens, her own eyes burning with the threat of tears.

"I'll take care of us…..don't you worry…

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><p><strong>Present day…..<strong>

She knew it was here, the local town's people have numerous sightings of it and many have lost prized cattle and even family to the thing's hunger.

She'll have it's bloody corpse strung up in the square by noon.

"You really shouldn't have gone alone Britt, this thing took down a full grown bull, it can easily rip off your head in one bite,"

"I-It's going to eat her?!"

"Jeanette stop scaring our sister, I'll be fine, I've fought werewolves scarier than this thing remember?" Rolling her sapphire blue eyes skyward the auburn furred chipette turns down the volume on her headset, "Now be quiet,"

There were some of the survivors who were not affected by their fear, they learned to control it, meld it into something different, a weapon of sorts.

Those people trained their families and others how to fight back against the primal fear that dwells within ones soul, those people became a new race of people known as Symphonies, though most call them Slayers.

Brittany flexes her fingers, the familiar energy coursing through her body slides down her arms to gather between her fingers, manifesting to become sparkling white energy that ripples like liquid glass, the heat warms her to the core and she feels herself relax as the familiar soothing words roll off her tongue.

" Je suis la lamière," She breathes out, feeling the tingling sensation die down slightly until it becomes a soft warmth that courses through her arms.

The Creature she is hunting for is known as the Beast of Gèvaudan, a large canine like creature that seems to have been mixed with a large cat, it's known to have red fur with black markings along it's back, it's roughly the size of a young bull and has been terrorizing the small town nearby, it's been hunting it's villagers.

This hunt would be easy, these simple animal like Creatures weren't much of a fight, they didn't have a lot to work with when it comes to one on one fighting, lunging and clawing pretty much summed it up.

She continues to move on through the dense forest, the winding branches of the trees blocks out most of the sunlight, but small speckles of sun dot the earth beneath their mighty branches and blades of grass reach out eagerly for the sunlight, the dead leaves have long since decayed and the whole places smelled so lively and pleasant.

A Creature surely can't thrive here, can it?

"Brittany, I'm sensing something strange coming your way fast, I think its-,"

Something solid smashes right into her, sending her crashing to the earth with a pained grunt as all the air is knocked clean from her lungs, a few areas on her body burn in pain as the hairy beast's hot breath bears down on her, it reeks of decay.

"Lamière !" Brittany shouts, thrusting her hand upright against the creature's ribcage, digging her fingers into it's flesh as a blot of light tears through it's mangy hide, the canine-cat roars in furious agony as it rears back on its hide legs, it doesn't even try lunging for her, but instead it takes off past her, nearly knocking her back over as she quickly stands to face it….only to find it disappearing into the shadows beyond.

"Uh Jean, is the Beast known to be skittish?" Brittany lifts her bloodied fingers to her ear, touching the almost invisible ear piece as she frowns, her brow furrowing as only static fills her ear.

"Normally it isn't, I'm afraid I may have frightened it off,"

Her body grows cold, the warmth of her energy seemingly evaporates into thin air as her gaze drifts to the right, barely catching the shadow of the creature before it moves, appearing in the corner of her left eye.

"Show yourself…." Her voice quivers slightly and she bites her tongue, mumbling a curse in her head as the shadow seems to evaporate into thin air, and someone steps over to her from her right.

She whirls, raising her hand to throw a wall of light towards the unknown presence, but nothing happens and her gaze meets burning embers as a crooked grin graces the stranger's face.

"Hello there, you're a long way from home aren't you?"

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><p>I know it may be a bit confusing at the moment but all will be explained!<p>

Just keep reading away!

Translation

"I am light,"

"Light!"


	2. The Stranger

**Author's Note: **

**Hello and welcome to the second chapter of Hunted, I hope you all enjoy the story so far and aren't too confused, I'll be explaining a lot more things in this chapter and if you have any questions don't be afraid to ask!**

**I'll answer them in the author's notes and let you know what is going on.**

**I'm also considering adding in some OCS! Not mine, but you guys', but you can't just send one in cause you want to, I want you guys to get a feel for the story first :)**

**So if you aren't entirely lost you can send one in, and remember, this story focuses on Alvin and Brittany (can you tell they're my favorite couple?) and your OCS sometimes won't make long appearances in chapters or they might have very long ones, so please keep that in mind ^u^**

**Ok on with the chapter!**

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><p>She should've turned tail and run the moment she felt that something was off, any normal person probably would've been long gone by now, listening to their fear as it fueled their body in their escape.<p>

But she had been trained not to give into fear, fear caused illness these days, and Symphonies were never ever to give into basic primal urges like fear.

But oh how she wished so could.

It wasn't that he was ugly, it was quiet the opposite, and that's why she was a bit worried. Sure he's nice to look at but she could tell he was something entirely different than the basic Creatures she's been used to hunting.

He has four horns at the moment, the two longest protrude from his forehead and curve outward before circling back towards his forehead, much like a bull's horns, then there's the two smaller ones just at the edge of his temples, they're sharp and small and just below them she can see tiny bumps beneath his skin indicating that two more would be growing soon.

The number of horns is a tell-tale sign of a Creature's power, that and how long their tail is…and his touches the ground.

She feels it swelling deep within her chest, a darkness that she can't seem to feel through, it inches through her veins at an anxiously slow pace and she fights to squash it. She wouldn't be scared, not of a Creature, especially of one that resembles her own species.

The munk raises a single dark eyebrow, seemingly impressed at her ability to easily snuff out fear almost instantly, his long tail sways side to side lazily, brushing over the fresh blades of grass beneath their feet.

"So you're one of those….Light people? Odd you don't seem distorted and you don't glow, and you really don't look like you belong in a cult," He circles her and she swallows softly, straining to hear his foot steps but there is not a single sound emanating from him.

She feels it start up again, but he moves closer and she forgets about it, flinching slightly as he steps even closer.

"Don't you dare," Brittany raises her paw to expose her tattooed palm, the ink glows white and light flickers between her fingers.

He watches in fascination, "You didn't chant anything, that's amazing, you don't have to chant?" He moves even closer, simmering golden orbs filled with nothing but curiosity, at the moment.

But she remembers when he first appeared, stepping forth from his own shadow, she had seen the hungry stare, the eagerness in his gaze and the twisted grin upon his face.

The image had burnt itself into her mind.

He was far from innocent.

"Get the hell away from me," She releases a spark of light, the projectile is about as big as a baseball and connects instantly, creating a burn mark on his red shirt, the blackened smoke rising from the area reeks of hellfire.

"Ouch, geez calm down will ya?" His lips curl upwards, irises darkening as he tilts his head, "You really need to just relax, your fear is eating away at you,"

Brittany inhales a quick sharp breath, the realization dawning on her as she's drawn back to her own fear, it has consumed half of her, the darkness pulses and throbs beneath her skin and every nerve screeches in agony, the pain brings her to her knees and she grips her right wrist tightly, it hurts, oh gosh it burns everywhere.

It ripples just beneath the surface of her skin, voices whispering faintly at the edges of her hearing, she can sense shadows dancing around just beyond her vision, the voices belong to them, and they call out to her, begging her to join them, to free them, to eat them.

A cool paw touches her aching wrist and she's suddenly thrown into herself, the sudden realization that she had been drifting away makes her want to retch, she wouldn't become a mindless monster, she wouldn't allow herself to be swallowed by the fear.

Brittany's wide ice blue gaze drops downwards to the russet paw circling her right wrist, where she had been digging her nails into her flesh, trying to claw at the fear, her vision blurs slightly at the sight of her own blood and the pain manages to hold off her fear for a moment, it's his paw against her hot skin that makes her finally calm down.

"Fear has it's hooks in you doesn't it? That's interesting," She rips her arm from his grasp, "Y-you did that on purpose!"

He watches her with a small grin upon his face, straightening up to stand over her, "I only watched, you're the one who got scared and almost gave into the fear, I brought you back,"

Brittany clutches her healing arm against her stomach, staring up at him.

Fear had grown and mutated over many centuries, becoming something that no one was prepared for.

A living illness.

One that no one can escape and many will succumb to it eventually, once you do you become a Creature, disfigured things that sometimes resemble humans, sometimes resemble animals, and sometimes resemble demons. But there are those who are able to withstand fear, that's what Brittany and her sisters are meant to become, Symphonies, beings of light that ward off fear and it's darkness.

She cannot be ill with it.

But she is, she can feel it's lingering presence sitting at the center of her being, pulsing in time with her heartbeat, it waits silently for it's chance, it waits for her to panic, that's when it'll take control and make her a Creature.

"What did you did?" She flexes her fingers, staring at her tattooed palms, the marks throb as if they were just burned into her skin, even though that event happened years ago.

"I took some it from you, ate some of your fear, you're welcome," He sits down across from her, golden eyes glowing proudly as he smirks, exposing sharpened teeth that sends a slight shiver down her spine.

"And why would you do that? You're a Creature aren't you? You don't need fear, you are fear," Brittany stares at him, refusing to let his appearance hinder her, she wasn't scared of him, nope nope, and she wasn't attracted him, yeah defiantly not.

He blows out a breath and rolls his eyes, "Why do you think I took it? Creatures feed off fear just like fear feeds off darkness, we need fear to become stronger," He flexes his muscles smugly and leans back on his hands, "That's why I have a proposition for you,"

"No, I'm not making any deals, there's no way in hell,"

"It's not a deal….consider it more of a contract, you give me fear every time you go into a panic attack, just like a moment ago, I get stronger, you get better. It's a win, win situation, there's nothing wrong with that is there? Besides, without me you'll die, you tried to slit your wrist a moment ago, who knows what lengths you'll go subconsciously to stop yourself from becoming what you hate most,"

Brittany stares at him, he was serious, he was 100% serious, and it made her uneasy.

The fear had been there in her since that day 5 years ago, and it has continued to resurface since then, only recently has it gotten worse and her sisters have begun to worry, she needed it gone, and there was no known cure for fear, the only solution is death.

"Will this help it fade? Make my fear go away?"

He scratches at his jaw thoughtfully, "It might, there's a big chance that it will, but most likely it'll just make it so small you won't even notice it,"

She shouldn't…..

"Ok…how do we make a contract?"

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><p><strong>So basically Brittany is dying from Fear, which is a big illness in this time period and this strange creaturemunk is able to reduce her symptoms and stop the Fear…..but the only way to do that is to make a contract, and there are always loopholes and fine print in contracts (insert evil kitty face here) **


End file.
